Page 13 of Stars in Umbra (The Sable Riders #8)

To be asked into their hallowed kinship was beyond his wildest dreams.

‘You are the first beyond our original crew that we’d like to initiate,’ Kainan confirmed with a rasp. ‘So, what do you think?’

Mirage turned with a smile. ‘He probably needs some time, boss; he’s having a hard time breathing.’

‘ Fokk off,’ Mo growled, but she was right; he was struggling to inhale. His chest was burning, his heart pounding.

Zane spoke up for the first time. ‘Brother, we need you to step into the fire and become one of us.’

Mo’s internal axis tilted, not with fear, but with the sudden clarity of a door that had been unlocked from the inside.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

His pulse beat hard at his throat.

The ask hit deeper than he desired to admit, into his soul, where he’d long buried his desire for belonging beneath grit and silence.

He was a man of the shadows, a ghost on the perimeter, stationed in the dark and pointed at the threats no one else wanted to face.

He was a tool, a weapon, and an unseen force.

Yet now, the men and organization he admired the most were offering him a place inside.

‘You sure, boss Khan ?’ Mo’s rasp was raw, rough, like gravel underfoot because the rock-hard ground he built his life on didn’t feel so steady anymore.

He searched Kainan’s face for the catch, the test, the crack in the offer, but there was none. Just an honest, open, level gaze that gave nothing but truth.

‘ Fokk yeah,’ Kainan said, not missing a beat. ‘You’ve walked beside us for years. You’ve guarded our doors, our people, our peace. You’ve put yourself in the line without ever asking for a seat at this table.’

He raised his chin, the heft of his words pressing in. ‘You’ve earned this, and your expertise in weapons, logistics, and security is second to none. Once you agree, your compensation will include a profit share and a new base salary four times your current pay.’

For a moment, Mo couldn’t speak. He let out an extended breath, the tension slipping from his frame, though his heart still pounded like a drum.

Zane gave a jaw lift from his post against the wall, a slight upturn to his lips that expressed his solid respect.

Mirage turned from the window, arms crossed, a flicker of warm approval in her discerning gaze.

For a long moment, the pulse of the city filled the silence.

In that quiet, the offer they were extending hit him.

They meant it.

They really were offering him a seat at their table.

Throughout his years working with them, the Riders never recruited new members from outside the organization.

They didn’t hand out trust with ease.

Mo let out a slow breath, the elation thrumming through him unfamiliar and humbling all at once.

He cleared his throat, forced a ghost of a grin. ‘How can I refuse? I’m in.’

Kainan stepped from the desk, clapping a firm hand on his shoulder, grounding and real. ‘Good man.’

The door behind them hissed open before he could recover, and the room filled with voices and laughter.

Kage shouldered the door wider, sporting a broad beam, and swinging a bottle of amber-gold whiskey like he’d just robbed a distillery.

‘Well, look who finally stepped into the galaxy’s most hectic job,’ he boomed. ‘Chief of Security. Welcome to our madness, oh venerable guardian.’

Riv strolled in right after, already snatching tumblers from the shelf. ‘ Nada , he’s going to be less guardian and more beast because given the kind of shit thrown our way, we require a brute.’

Kage jabbed a thumb toward Mo. ‘Hope you negotiated hazard pay, brother. Babysitting us is at least triple time.’

‘Funny thing, Kage,’ Mo retorted without blinking, ‘I don’t need a scope to shoot you at arm’s length.’

Ki’Remi was last through the door, arms folded, eyes glinting like a knife edge.

He raked Mo up and down with slow, deliberate judgment before delivering his verdict. ‘About freakin’ time we welcomed you into this mad house.’

Kisan’s face flickered onto the wall screen from halfway across the system, standing under a blood-orange sky with a drink in hand.

‘Couldn’t have happened to a better man. Congratulations, friend,’ he rasped.

On another feed, Xion’s kids were clambering over furniture, shrieking war cries as their father ignored them, muttering, ‘Welcome to the brotherhood, Mo.’

Kage popped the cork with a flourish and poured out the whiskey, the scent of smoke, char, and spice curling into the air.

Kainan lifted his glass first. ‘To our new Chief of Security, may he survive us long enough to regret taking the job.’

Riv toasted next. ‘To the man who’s going to need more patience than ammo.’

Zane’s voice came smooth and dry. ‘To the poor bastard who just agreed to babysit a pack of untamed meta shifters.’

The room erupted in rough laughter as glasses collided.

‘To Mo!’ they rasped together.

The whiskey burned like fire, and so did the back slaps, Kage’s crushing hug, Riv’s firm smack, Ki’Remi’s clasp.

It was a claiming, and as Mo gazed around at the faces in that room, at his brotherhood of lethal operators, warriors, and family, even Mirage, he fought back tears.

For the first time in a long, brutal life, he wasn’t just standing guard at the gates, looking in.

He was home.